


nothing changes (everything's different)

by Frostwells



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: 05x19, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Romance, Stalking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:55:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21826303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frostwells/pseuds/Frostwells
Summary: Eobard Thawne appears before Caitlin with information regarding her father and her future. A future he doesn't want to come into fruition.
Relationships: Caitlin Snow/Eobard Thawne | Harrison Wells, Relationship - Snowells, mention of Caitlin Snow/Earth-2 Harrison "Harry" Wells
Comments: 6
Kudos: 34





	nothing changes (everything's different)

**Author's Note:**

> Dear gods, how long has it been since I've last post something? I've actually wrote a drabble of this when the 05x19 first aired but life hits you, ya feel?
> 
> Anyways, you know the usual stuff:
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash blah blah  
> Claimer: I do own all my grammar mistakes because who got the time to proof read their stuff

She never really believed much in the impossible. Being a scientist, she dealt in probabilities. What she did believe in was research, data, statistics; concrete evidence. Even working with the man who defied the God of Speed, at the end of the day, it all came to scientific knowledge – not hope.

Believing in the impossible meant hope.

And what Caitlin had hoped was that the man in yellow and his striking, cerulean eyes blazing underneath the poorly illuminated street were not, in fact, standing before her.

The last time the biochemist had seen his face was just mere hours ago belonging to a French-Canadian doppelganger of his hailing from Earth-221. Yet, the last time the cryogenic metahuman saw _him_ , the man whose very body was incinerated and existence was wiped out from the timeline was four years ago. Granted, she saw versions of him, his true self, throughout her own timeline, but they weren’t in sync. His future in her past; the murder of Harrison Wells of Earth-1 hadn’t come into fruition let alone the murder of Nora Allen. 

And somehow, he defied the very impossible, standing mere metres away from her, standing at his full height. Definitely not falsely situated in a wheelchair this time around.

“You…”

Caitlin couldn’t bring herself to call him by a name that wasn’t his, no matter how familiar it felt on her tongue. How familiar _he_ was. The name ‘ _Dr._ _Wells’_ belonged to the men who were born with that appellation – not stolen identities.

Clad in that nefarious red-and-yellow suit whose colour scheme reversed The Flash, Thawne took a step forward. Caitlin instinctively took a step back. That earned her a reproachful look but nonetheless, he continued his slow stride towards his former employee.

Her hand clutched the phone resting in her coat, thumb at ready to push the emergency signal Cisco had installed on her mobile specifically for her. She never felt more thankful.

“It’s been quite a while…Caitlin.”

The _tone_ of his voice sent a wave of chills down her spine. His voice wasn’t as deep and raspy as Harry’s but the same, stern, authoritative yet somehow the underlying kindness he reserved for her was evident despite nearly half a decade passed – despite the history shared between them being tarnished.

“What are you doing here, Thawne?” the brunette bit out, still backing up away from the murderer.

The yellow speedster let out a laugh, as if he were humoured by that question alone. He glanced up at the dark, polluted, murky sky, the moon barely shining through the thick clouds before returning his gaze at the biochemist. 

“I must admit, it’s quite refreshing to hear you refer to me by my real name.”

There was once a time where Caitlin would’ve still found his smile disarming – charming even, and she would’ve reciprocated that action. A smile for a smile. But all known psychopaths were charming to some degree. Eobard Thawne was definitely no exception.

“I’m only going to ask you once more.” She tried to sound strong, stern and that made Eobard’s smile broader. “What are you doing here?”

He finally ceased his slow pursuit of Caitlin and remained still on the pavement. It was eerily silent in the residential neighbourhood, the low hum of the electrical currents passing through the light bulbs overhead was the only audible noise. Standing directly below a lamppost, Caitlin took a quick opportunity to scrutinise him under an analytical gaze.

Thawne definitely stood taller than her, if he were standing directly in front of her. His face seemed gaunter; the age lines around his eyes and brows were more defined than what she remembered. He looked certainly older. His thick mane that was once a deep chestnut colour much like her own was no longer the same. It was now a blonde tint that resembled his ancestor, Eddie – another sure reminder of the imposter behind the face that didn’t belong to him. 

He quirked his lips upwards as he regarded Caitlin with a soft expression. “Would you believe me if I said I’m here for you?”

“If you’re here to kill me because I turn out to be some roadblock – a hindrance in your future, then, yes. I find that reason to be highly probable.”

His smug look quickly morphed into a stern expression, rapidly turning into a thunderous look. She had seen it firsthand towards Cisco when he unknowingly replicated her cryogenic powers into a gun. It didn’t take a genius to know that he wasn’t pleased with her snide remark.

In the blink of the eye, Thawne was looming over her. So close, she could feel the his hot breath on the crown of her head. “In all the aberrations in various timelines,” Eobard started, vehemence strong in his baritone voice, “I had never laid a hand on you, let alone killed you. Understand? _Never._ ”

The sudden close proximity had warning bells in the form of her alter ego ringing loudly her in her head, sending Caitlin into flight-or-fight mode. She can feel her body temperature dropping at an alarming pace, the urge to hurt the man in front of her was rapidly rising.

Her own voice echoed loudly in her head, the sultry drawl tone another way to distinguish between the two women.

**_Let me kill him for you, Caity. Just say the word._ **

If her other self was in possession of this body, Caitlin had no doubt she would end the yellow speedster’s life. It would be done with a malicious smile no less, his blood dripping on her cryo-weapon of choice.

 _Steady, Frost,_ Caitlin warned. _Trust me. It definitely won’t be that easy._

Frost’s voice was persuasive, unrelenting.

**_Babe, I can stab him faster before he could zip away like the cockroach he is._ **

_I said no!_

She mentally willed Killer Frost away while remaining conscious enough where Thawne didn’t suspect she had a conversation with her more…violent alter self. Reassured that Frost wouldn’t just suddenly appear without Caitlin’s consent and blatantly murder her former mentor, hazel eyes daringly locked with cerulean ones. 

“And why should I ever believe you?” Caitlin challenged. “You’re a murderer! You killed Barry’s parents; murdered _Cisco_ in an alternate timeline! Who knows who else you’ve killed?”

His fury didn’t dissipate. Caitlin briefly wondered what exactly she said that managed to piss him off to this extent. It wasn’t as if she was spouting falsified truths about his history. She was surprised that he didn’t just outright phase his arm and stab her in the chest just like he had done to his surrogate son in an alternate timeline.

Recollecting himself, Eobard breathed out, “I am not going to play judge and jury with you, Caitlin.” In a more calmer state than he was a second ago, he added, “I don’t have the time for that.”

“And here I thought as a speedster, you had all the time in the world, being able to manipulate time and all.”

Thawne let out an ugly laugh. “On the contrary. Time is the one thing that doesn’t seem to be on my side lately.” Seeing that she wasn’t to inquire on his statement, her gaze hardened, Thawne raised a hand to place on her shoulder, a habit he had done in the past as her former boss, but thought against it when she flinched at the abrupt gesture. “You asked me why I’m here. I said it’s because of you.”

“And I replied if you’re here to kill me because that wouldn’t shock me in the slightest.”

“Rest assured that I’m not here to harm you, Caitlin. Not now, not ever.”

With a sarcastic tone, she spat, “Considered me assured.”

He blinked at her, unused to this bravado from the clinical, professional Caitlin Snow he was accustomed to half a decade ago.

“You’ve changed.”

As he examined her, she felt her blood run cold. Her eyes flashed. “Well, killing my husband, ruining my life, changing _everything_ I _believed_ in can do that to a person.”

“It also seems that psychological alteration wasn’t the only thing that changed you,” Eobard said cryptically, that _damned_ smile in place. It was the same, shrewd smile he sported when he knew something, when he had figured out an answer to an impossible equation, but had no intention on sharing that enlightenment. “There may be hope for us yet.”

“What are you talking about?”

“What do you know about Dr. Thomas Snow?” Thawne deflected. That’s what he did best. Answering a question with another question, making the whole topic of inquiries misconstrued.

She flinched. “Why do you care about my dad?”

“Because you’re in danger, Caitlin,” he stated and brown eyes widened in shock. “In the future, my future, Thomas Snow wrecked havoc, killing hundreds of civilians and metahumans alike, yearning – hungry – for more power. One of those casualties…was his own daughter.”

Caitlin and Frost could hear Thawne’s voice in their ears, register what he was saying but they simply couldn’t believe it. Why would they when it was coming from a psychopath? It’s laughable, thinking that their father would blatantly murder his own daughter, his own creation, in search of power.

But at the same time, barely escaping with their lives the last time the human-metahuman duo went against Icicle, there was some merit behind the speedster’s words about them dying.

She couldn’t help but point at herself in disbelief. “Me.”

He nodded. “You.” With an afterthought, he added, “Both of you.”

_Both of us?_

**_Oh, boo. He knows._ **

Right at that moment, Caitlin’s brain short-circuited, unable to grasp at the fact the Fake Wells knew about her duo-personality when only limited amount of people in her life know about Frost. Back when they were together as a team, he gave no indication that he was aware that she was a metahuman – that she was essentially the _first_ metahuman in existence.

The sound of her Thomas Snow’s voice rang in her mind as she recalled the first time they’ve reunited since his apparent death.

_“When I first came here, I stayed in contact with a few scientists – Louise Lincoln, Victor Fries and Harrison Wells. Wells was able to give me full access to S.T.A.R. Labs video uplink. A one way video.”_

Caitlin’s breath hitched. It all started to make sense now.

_The video feed, S.T.A.R. Labs, Dad…_

Knowing where she was getting at, Killer Frost interjected. **_This sick bastard knew about us from the very start…and also knew that Dad was alive._**

That revelation made Caitlin wonder what else had been a lie. Her whole life, she believed that she was a normal, human being. That the father she loved dearly as a little girl had died of multiple sclerosis. That the damned man standing before her in his yellow suit was once worth her career – that she didn’t care who she worked for as long she was with _him._ Because to some degree, she believed that she loved Dr. Harrison Wells enough not to care about what others said about them.

She _loved_ him.

But everything she had ever known was a lie.

“You knew…” Her voice was low and icy. Caitlin couldn’t tell if it was her own or Frost’s. Not that it mattered. Both women were equally pissed.

“If you’re referring to me knowing that you’re the Goddess of Snow, then, yes. I know.” Thawne gave her a knowing smile. “I know about Khione as well, though, I have yet to have the pleasure of meeting her.”

**_It wouldn’t be quite a pleasure if I had an icicle stabbed through your stomach, now would it, darling?_ **

A million thoughts, primarily questions, raced through her head. _Who, what, where, why, when, and how?_ Caitlin’s intensive vocabulary was reduced to the simple ‘ _w-five-h’_ scheme, too much in shock to properly process a coherent question.

When she finally collected her thoughts, Caitlin managed to ask, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It wasn’t my place to tell.”

“Like hell it wasn’t!” Caitlin barked.

“I was in too deep without summoning the Time Wreaths.”

“You once said you’d do anything for me.”

The speedster couldn’t help but smirk at the brunette. “I thought between us, the ‘within reason’ clause was already in effect.”

Oh, he was infuriating indeed. With his arrogant smile, the vague responses, Caitlin had half the mind to allow Frost to take control and stab him. Yet, knowing the Reverse Flash, there was no doubt in her mind that he was already anticipating such a move.

“You’re the type of person who wouldn’t do anything unless it benefited yourself.” She pointed out. “So, explain it to me. I don’t see how my death affects you.”

Unlike half a decade ago, Eobard Thawne didn’t offer up an eloquent, verbose explanation. He didn’t give a scientific reason that could alter the shape of their reality. He didn’t provide Caitlin _anything_.

Instead, he looked at her with those smoldering, blue eyes that were so familiar yet never his.

Harry’s gaze held contempt in them save for a moment of tenderness that was reserved to people closest to him. H.R’s look was so full of joy and curiousness. All the same faces, yet, the moment the fake Dr. Harrison Wells’ so much as glanced her way, Caitlin could immediately distinguish his eyes from all his doppelgangers.

Cobalt eyes regarded her with a deep intensity; lips quirked upwards in an oddly, gentle smile that was devoid of maliciousness. The same look he gave her countless times in the past where she had played the dumb sheep, unaware of his true identity. Yet, it was a look he couldn’t ever fake – that much she knew.

It was fondness.

“Wait…you’re not doing this for yourself.”

His eyes softened when his former scientist finally understood. “In my timeline, you’re already dead, Caitlin. But…if I could do something to prolong your lifespan until your time comes, then so be it.”

At the revelation, confusion overwhelmed her. Millions thoughts raced through her head. Million feelings wracked her heart. It was too much for Caitlin.

When she had first learned of her formal mentor’s betrayal, she cried to herself for weeks. The life she worked so hard to build, to prove to her mother that she was more than able of taking of herself, to prove to her peers that she was just as capable as a scientist as the rest of them…only to realize her life was just a pawn in an elaborate chess game that wasn’t even hers to play in…it destroyed her.

The Reverse Flash destroyed her.

Hazel eyes flashed white dangerously. “Why? Why do you care?” Caitlin yelled, uncaring of possible passerbys in nearby homes hearing her. “You _never_ cared about me!”

Living up to his abilities, Thawne immediately had his hands clasped around her wrists, bringing her close to his person. He was so close; Caitlin could feel the puffs on hot air on her face again.

“And that’s where I beg to differ,” he growled, his voice low. “You always meant something to me, Caitlin. Did you think I would go far as to save your fiancé for you? All just to make you _happy?_ Or how I’d do just about anything to keep you safe? Even from me?”

She blinked and felt the anger recede back into confusion. “From you…?”

“In an alternate timeline that The Flash destroyed, you had an inkling on my real identity as did Cisco. I killed the only son I ever knew but you…I couldn’t bring myself to kill you.” He let her go. “But it was due to my own short-comings that you still died. Not by me, I assure you but an untimely tsunami.”

Caitlin felt her heart drop at that revelation. It was no surprise that he was a murderer but to go as far as to kill Cisco? Her best friend? And he even contemplated _killing_ her? She felt sick to her stomach.

“Why?” was all she managed to croak out.

_Why did you kill the brother I ever knew?_

_Why did you want to kill me when you said you’d always protect me?_

_Why did you let me live?_

Out of all the questions that flew across her mind, the Reverse Flash already knew the most important one to her.

“I think you already know the answer to that.”

At his evasive answer, hands flew to his leather-clad chest and tried to grasp whatever fabric she could into her hands, bringing him close to her face. Gone were her warm hazel eyes and replaced by icy white that matched the cold mist emanating from her palms. 

“Answer me, Thawne!” Caitlin hissed, her voice eerily similar to Frost’s. “Why couldn’t you bring yourself to kill me, you coward?”

Undaunted by her powers, he looked straight at her. “Because you were the only person who never ceased to impress me. You were the only person who stayed by my side when you believed I had nothing. You were the only person I _ever_ wanted to protect.”

The Reverse Flash placed his hands over hers. If the cold had any effect on him, he didn’t show it.

“You were the only one I ever loved, Caitlin.”

Anger immediately morphed into unadulterated surprise. _He loved me?_ Five years ago, the bioengineer would’ve been ecstatic that her employer felt the same ago. Five years ago, she would’ve gladly let Ronnie go if it meant staying by Dr. Harrison Wells’ side.

But that’s all it was: five years ago. Five years before she knew who he was, what he did and what had become. Before he broke the image she had built for him and replaced himself with the villain imagery he truly was.

The love she once had for him was replaced with hatred and mistrust. Caitlin was so utterly blinded by the negative emotions that she had projected it onto his doppelganger. Harry didn’t deserve that one bit. Not from her, not from anyone.

But his face had that effect on her. His face, his voice, his words…she hated it all.

Before she could get a single word out, Caitlin felt her body temperature stoop dangerously low, and could see from her peripheral that of her chestnut hair transforming into white.

_…What?_

**_Sorry, baby. I’m taking this one._ **

_Wait, Frost! Wait!_

When she lifted her head up, it wasn’t chocolate coloured eyes staring at azure ones. It wasn’t her rosy lips that snarled back at him. It wasn’t her voluminous chestnut hair that waved slowly in the night breeze.

The woman before the Reverse Flash shot him a toothy grin that would send chills to any normal, human being.

“Hello, handsome.” She ran a hand down his arm suggestively.

He nodded politely in response, slightly amused in the personality change. He had heard of the Snow Goddess with a split personality back in his future, but it was something else to witness it first hand.

“Khione.”

She clicked her tongue disapprovingly. “Only Daddy got to call me that. I much prefer ‘Frost’, thank you very much.”

“Apologies, Frost.”

She grinned, clearly amused by this whole ordeal. “Good boy,” the cryo-metauman praised. “Sorry for the abrupt change. I had to take over before Caity dear did something she’d regret.”

“How admirable of you.”

“I’d say it’s a pleasure meeting you, but it hasn’t been so far,” Frost drawled.

“I can only imagine.”

“Let me make something clear for you: Caity doesn’t need saving.” She tilted her head. “She has me.”

“The Goddess of Snow doesn’t need saving, indeed,” he agreed. “But your powers only go so far to protect yourselves from Thomas. He’s a ruthless being that would kill both you and Caitlin at no hesitation if it meant being stronger.”

Frost took a moment to ponder his words. She had seen her father’s powers first hand and what it could do – what he had done to _them_. Thomas had yet to fully accept his malignant alter-ego and if what Thawne was saying were true, then his daughters would no doubt die at the hands of Icicle. 

On one hand, if she were to refuse Thawne’s offer of protection, there was no doubt on he would do something in the extreme like kidnapping her and trapping her somewhere until her father dies. Most likely by the speedster’s hand. On the other, Caitlin would go absolutely ballistic that Frost accepted his help. That would be whole new headache on its own.

“We don’t have much of a choice here, do we?”

The older man smiled. “I’m afraid not.”

The white-haired metahuman let out an exaggerated sigh. “I hate that I agree with you.”

“Then, let me help you, Frost.”

“Caity won’t be happy with this…arrangement.”

“I don’t need her to be. I just need her safe and alive. You and I can do that for her.”

Frost looked at him. She was particularily good at reading the behaviours and intentions of men. After all, she’s been hanging out with the boys when Caitlin’s been sleeping. But this is Eobard Thawne. This man killed The Flash’s parents in cold blood. The same man who made it his life mission to torment and kill his eternal rival. Yet, looking at Eobard, she could sense no hostility towards her. His intentions are true.

“You do care for her, don’t you?”

“I love her,” Thawne answered without missing a beat.

She regarded him. “I wasn’t ‘awake’ at the time when you were around and fucked everything and everyone up but…I do know that once upon a time, Caity – she…she did love you. I felt it.”

He smiled and she saw it was different than the clinical smile he had given to Frost.

“I know.”

That took Frost by surprise. “You know?”

He laughed softly. “There was this time after the Particle Accelerator blew, I told her that she was free to go, to leave my side and be with anyone else but me. That she was only going to garner a bad name for herself if she stayed. What did she do? She told me that she didn’t care who judged her by my company. It was then I knew she loved me, even though she didn’t know it yet. Didn’t know _me_ yet.”

That definitely sounded something Caitlin would do. Ever the righteous girl. But even to own ears, it also sounded like love. Caitlin could’ve left him, found another place of employment but still kept in touch with her former boss once in awhile. But to reject all job offers and stay with him even though it provided no source of income. Definitely love. It made Frost gag but that’s who Caitlin was.

Then, a thought occurred to her.

“But you loved her for much longer, haven’t you, Thawne?” Frost pointed out.

“Who’s to say?” he chuckled. “But I think I’ll continue to love Caitlin until the all the stars in the cosmos burn to nothing. Even if she despises me with her entire being, I won’t stop loving her.”

**_That was oddly…romantic of him. Creepy but still…_ **

“Then, why? Why go on this path of bloodshed and your creepy, unhealthy obsession of killing Barry instead of wooing Caity like a – I don’t know; a sane, human being?”

“I had no intention of ever pursuing her,” Thawne confessed. “Just because I love her does not mean I will stop my goals of returning to my timeline and killing The Flash. She deserves a better life than the one I can offer her.”

“So, you’d rather be a guardian angel to her but in a more murderous, psychopathic and possibly demonic way,” Frost said with a deadpan expression.

He grinned playfully at her. “Quite the grotesque analogy you got there, Frost, but if that’s how you want to put it.”

Frost raised her hands in front in her in mock defence. “Just calling it like I see it, darling.”

If this were her human self, Caitlin would quite possibly be having myocardial infarction just for having a moment of banter with the number one villain in Team Flash’s lives. Or perhaps this entire conversation alone.

But Frost did love Caitlin. So, that’s why with a grin, the cryogenic metahuman said, “Okay, handsome. I’ll team up with you to take down Daddy. On the condition you’ll never show your face to Caitlin after this.”

“I’m afraid I can’t –” 

She raised a manicured hand to stop him. “I’m not saying you have stop your creepy stalkiness to make sure we’re okay,” Frost assured. “Just don’t show yourself to her after this or make yourself known if you wanna keep your head intact. Caity was positively murderous and as delicious that was, not about to go through the legal issues of your murder.”

The Reverse Flash let out a laugh at her sordid deal. Turned out that the Snow Goddess wasn’t as righteous as her human counterpart.

“You have a deal, Goddess.”

“Great. Let’s go kill my dad.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed it, please leave a kudos!! If you want to go an extra mile and make smile, please leave a comment of what you thought of it!


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